This invention relates to economic energy control in general, and to economic control over the lights and other electric appliances in the separate room accommodations of multi-room establishments, such as hotels and motels in particular, and also office buildings, for example.
The usual electrical controls especially over the lights in the rooms of such establishments are particularly susceptible to wasting energy by the occupants. For example, what accounts for particularly wasteful use of these controls in hotels and motels in particular is the bad habit of all too many registered guests to leave the lights on while going out for dinner or even for the whole evening, or to leave them on when vacating the room even in broad daylight.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide for the lights in each room unit of a hotel or motel, for example, a circuit control which by extremely simple manipulation by an occupant of a room makes for far greater economical use than hertofore of the lights by compelling the occupant to turn them off when leaving the room for any length of time or vacating the same.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for the lights in each room unit of a hotel or motel, for example, a circuit, and to arrange the aforementioned circuit control in the form of a main switch which is shiftable into a first position and spring-urged into a second position for opening and closing the circuit, respectively, a relay adapted, when energized, to shift the main switch into its first position, and a featured master switch of push button type of which the push button is formed as a latch bolt, and mounting the switch on the inside of the door of the room so that the button will serve as a latch bolt which by an occupant in the room is projectible into a catch on the adjacent door jamb to lock the door, and is retracible from the catch to unlock the door for opening, with the contacts of this master switch being by the latch bolt in its projected and retracted positions disengaged and engaged for deenergizing and energizing the relay, respectively. The featured master switch will thus indeed compel the occupant or occupants of the room to turn the lights off when leaving the room unoccupied for any length of time or when vacating the same, for the attending occupant will in either event have to retract the latch bolt with ensuing lights off to clear the door jamb and only then permit closure of the door. Conversely, the lights in the room will be on when the latch bolt is in its projected position. The latch bolt is intended to be thus projected by a guest after opening the door and coming within manipulative reach of the latch bolt for its projection preferably pursuant to instructions that may conveniently be posted on the outside of the door. Once inside the room, the occupant will close the door and also lock the same with the latch bolt, which is in general keeping with the custom of most travelers to lock themselves in their room during occupancy. Thus, insofar as the envisioned use of the latch bolt of the featured master switch by registered guests is concerned, the same is limited to turning the lights on when entering the room and usually locking the door from the inside, and turning the lights off when temporarily leaving the room or vacating the same, with the room being during temporary departure of the guest customarily locked by the latter from the outside with the conventional key which goes with the room. The featured master switch, while primarily intended for the aforementioned special use by privileged guests, also lends itself quite readily to different uses by personnel of the establishment and of outside services. Thus, the master switch lends itself to turning the lights on and off at the latch bolt while the door is open, which facilitates the work of chambermaids and repairmen, and also of emergency personnel when needed. The versatility in these respects of the master switch is, of course, highly desirable and quite advantageous and, moreover, is an attribute of the simple assembly of the circuit controls mostly from standard low-cost parts.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide the relay in the aforementioned light circuit control in the form of a time delay relay which on energization by the featured master switch for light turn-off delays the shift of the main switch from lights-on position to lights-off position for a preset time period measured in minutes. With this arrangement, such darkness as one may encounter in a room can be kept to very short periods. Thus, a guest entering a room need not be concerned with such darkness in the room as he or she may then encounter, for the guest will have no difficulty in reaching for the latch bolt and projecting it for immediate "on" response by the lights. Following turn-on of the lights in this fashion, the guest will in any event have light for such next activities as unpacking and putting the room in desired order, for if the latch bolt is left projected the lights will remain on, and they will also remain on, i.e., for the set time delay of the relay, if the latch bolt is retracted after the lights are on. The guest will thus have light for whatever immediate activity is planned until he or she comes to the accustomed locking of the door by the latch bolt. The delay in turning off the lights following retraction of the latch bolt may also come in handy when in vacating the room the latch bolt is retracted by the guest, but some, more or less, time may still elapse until the guest actually leaves the room while the lights are still on.
Also susceptible to waste of energy in each room unit of a hotel or motel, for example, are the customary heating and air-conditioning utility systems which during the applicable seasons are usually set at central master controls for average comfortable room conditions which in many cases may be further regulatable at room controls by the guests to satisfy their individual needs. The waste of energy here arises during the time or times when a room which is comfortably conditioned for occupancy is temporarily left empty by a registered guest or is vacated, in which case the energy involved in thus conditioning the empty room is wasted. It is, therefore, still another object of the present invention largely to eliminate such waste of energy by making provisions to run the seasonably responsive heating or air-conditioning system in each room at intervals which are so timed as to keep the room at preset minimum and maximum temperatures, respectively, when the room is empty.
The utility systems may be combined in a single unit which is connected in a main branch of a utility circuit which is closed by the aforementioned main switch in its second or lights-on position, meaning that whichever utility system is set for seasonal response will continuously be responsive to temperature controls when the lights are on. There is also provided a secondary utility circuit which includes, besides the main branch of the first mentioned utility circuit, a second lead with an interposed normally-open timer switch which, when closed, closes the secondary utility circuit. The timer switch is under the control of a timer in a circuit which is closed by the aforementioned main switch in its first or lights-off position. Thus, when the lights are off, the circuit of the timer is closed and the timer is then operated to close the associated switch at preset intervals for preset time periods, whereby the seasonally responsive utility system will then also respond to temperature controls at the same intervals for the same time periods.